Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Pathology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Pathology
. 1991 May;44(5):366–369. doi: 10.1136/jcp.44.5.366

Cytomegalovirus infection in Gambian mothers and their babies.

C Bello 1, H Whittle 1
PMCID: PMC496863  PMID: 1646236

Abstract

A 15 month longitudinal study of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in 178 Gambian mothers and their babies was undertaken. Twenty five (14%) of the babies were congenitally infected despite the fact that 87% of their mothers were antibody positive to the virus. Two of the 25 congenitally infected infants had evidence of severe neurological damage; skin sepsis was also a prominent feature in congenitally infected infants. The other children soon became infected. At 6 months of age, 53% of the infants were shedding virus either in urine or saliva. By the age of 12 months 86% of the infants had serological evidence of CMV infection. Preliminary evidence suggests that sibling to sibling infection in crowded compounds might be a major route of transmission.

Full text

PDF
369

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Drew W. L., Mintz L., Miner R. C., Sands M., Ketterer B. Prevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in homosexual men. J Infect Dis. 1981 Feb;143(2):188–192. doi: 10.1093/infdis/143.2.188. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Elek S. D., Stern H. Development of a vaccine against mental retardation caused by cytomegalovirus infection in utero. Lancet. 1974 Jan 5;1(7845):1–5. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)92997-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Greenwood B. M., Bradley-Moore A. M., Bryceson A. D., Palit A. Immunosuppression in children with malaria. Lancet. 1972 Jan 22;1(7743):169–172. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(72)90569-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Krech U. Complement-fixing antibodies against cytomegalovirus in different parts of the world. Bull World Health Organ. 1973;49(1):103–106. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Krech U., Tobin J. A collaborative study of cytomegalovirus antibodies in mothers and young children in 19 countries. Bull World Health Organ. 1981;59(4):605–610. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Medearis D. N., Jr Cmv immunity: imperfect but protective. N Engl J Med. 1982 Apr 22;306(16):985–986. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198204223061609. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Morag A., Zilberg J., Marva E. Early acquisition of cytomegalovirus antibodies in communal settlements (kibbutzim) in Israel. Am J Epidemiol. 1984 Feb;119(2):238–243. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113742. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Nankervis G. A., Kumar M. L. Diseases produced by cytomegaloviruses. Med Clin North Am. 1978 Sep;62(5):1021–1035. doi: 10.1016/s0025-7125(16)31752-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pass R. F., August A. M., Dworsky M., Reynolds D. W. Cytomegalovirus infection in day-care center. N Engl J Med. 1982 Aug 19;307(8):477–479. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198208193070804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Peckham C. S., Chin K. S., Coleman J. C., Henderson K., Hurley R., Preece P. M. Cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy: preliminary findings from a prospective study. Lancet. 1983 Jun 18;1(8338):1352–1355. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)92138-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rubin R. H., Cosimi A. B., Tolkoff-Rubin N. E., Russell P. S., Hirsch M. S. Infectious disease syndromes attributable to cytomegalovirus and their significance among renal transplant recipients. Transplantation. 1977 Dec;24(6):458–464. doi: 10.1097/00007890-197712000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Schopfer K., Lauber E., Krech U. Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in newborn infants of mothers infected before pregnancy. Arch Dis Child. 1978 Jul;53(7):536–539. doi: 10.1136/adc.53.7.536. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stagno S., Pass R. F., Dworsky M. E., Henderson R. E., Moore E. G., Walton P. D., Alford C. A. Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: The relative importance of primary and recurrent maternal infection. N Engl J Med. 1982 Apr 22;306(16):945–949. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198204223061601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Stagno S., Reynolds D. W., Pass R. F., Alford C. A. Breast milk and the risk of cytomegalovirus infection. N Engl J Med. 1980 May 8;302(19):1073–1076. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198005083021908. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Stern H., Booth J. C., Elek S. D., Fleck D. G. Microbial causes of mental retardation. The role of prenatal infections with cytomegalovirus, rubella virus, and toxoplasma. Lancet. 1969 Aug 30;2(7618):443–448. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)90162-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Weller T. H. Review. Cytomegaloviruses: the difficult years. J Infect Dis. 1970 Dec;122(6):532–539. doi: 10.1093/infdis/122.6.532. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Weller T. H. The cytomegaloviruses: ubiquitous agents with protean clinical manifestations. II. N Engl J Med. 1971 Jul 29;285(5):267–274. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197107292850507. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Whittle H. C., Bradley-Moore A., Fleming A., Greenwood B. M. Effects of measles on the immune response of Nigerian children. Arch Dis Child. 1973 Oct;48(10):753–756. doi: 10.1136/adc.48.10.753. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Whittle H. C., Brown J., Marsh K., Greenwood B. M., Seidelin P., Tighe H., Wedderburn L. T-cell control of Epstein-Barr virus-infected B cells is lost during P. falciparum malaria. 1984 Nov 29-Dec 5Nature. 312(5993):449–450. doi: 10.1038/312449a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Whittle H. C., Smith J. S., Kogbe O. I., Dossetor J., Duggan M. Severe ulcerative herpes of mouth and eye following measles. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1979;73(1):66–69. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(79)90132-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Pathology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES